Melanie's First Newsletter

Well queen, I did it. My back may be big, but so is my crown. I am truly honored to have the opportunity to share my love and passion for Miss Gay Arkansas America as the titleholder.

This month, I want to take a moment to remember someone who not only impacted my journey to MGAR but my career in drag as a whole, and that person is Norman Jones.

I met Norman around August 2015 when I first started performing. He came up to me and said something like, “At least you pad for your size.” I thought it was hilarious. Not long after that, I joined his cast, and he quickly started calling me “Melanie Monster.” I think it was mostly because I liked to argue with him for fun. I even got banned for a few months because of that once.

It took me a long time to understand how Norman really felt about me. He thought I didn’t listen, which wasn’t true, I just didn’t always agree. The first time I competed for MGAR, he gave me some advice that he thought I ignored. During crowning, he pinched the back of my arm and told me I was fired, over and over, even during critiques.

Later, when I went to Miss Gay America and placed tenth overall in talent, it was the only category we had talked about. We agreed on what I should do for it, and when it worked, it was the first time he told me he felt like I listened to him. After six years, we could finally talk to each other without it being awkward.

He once asked me why I wouldn’t commit more to pageantry, and I told him I would if he offered a retirement plan. Needless to say, I still have my day job.

Norman had a certain way about him. He wasn’t sunshine and rainbows. He was dry, direct, and his words could sting, but he was Norman. There were many times I thought, “Who gave him the nerve to talk to me like that?” Let’s not forget the now famous “sexy you are not” voice note.

But when I think about all the nerve he had, I think about the times that nerve made a difference. He had the nerve to face the KKK. He had the nerve to work with lawmakers trying to close clubs and ban drag. He had the nerve to spend his own money caring for AIDS patients when no one else would. You have to be stubborn, and it does take nerve to change the world around you, and that’s what Norman did. I asked Ron Standridge to offer his thoughts on Norman and I'd like to end this newsletter with his words...

A Reflection from Ron Standridge

Despite all the successes Norma Kristie enjoyed throughout his career, it was perhaps one significant loss that kept him grounded.

“Not winning Miss Gay Arkansas was one of my biggest disappointments,” Norman once told me. “Not hearing my name called as the winner for my home state was devastating. I felt like a failure, and it was a feeling I wasn’t used to.”

Still struggling with that disappointment, Norman almost passed on the chance to take the crown a short time later when the original titleholder was removed. As the first runner-up, he was offered the position but hesitated because he felt he hadn’t truly won. Once it was explained that someone would be walking the stage as Miss Gay Arkansas at the first Miss Gay America Pageant, he agreed to accept.

The rest was history. As the first Miss Gay Arkansas of record, Norma Kristie went on to become the very first Miss Gay America. After his reign as Miss Gay America 1972–73, Norman purchased the national pageant in 1975 and spent the next 30 years building it into the most prestigious system for professional female impersonation in the country.

When he returned to Arkansas as Miss Gay America, one of his first acts was to sell the first official preliminary franchise to himself. He wanted Arkansas to set the standard for Miss Gay America and soon after passed his state title to his best friend, Tuna Starr. Norman often said that sharing his year as Miss Gay Arkansas with Tuna was one of his proudest moments.

Norma Kristie, Inc. became known for breaking barriers, including racial ones. Before Miss America crowned its first African American winner in 1984, Miss Gay America had already crowned three, and Miss Gay Arkansas had crowned two.

One of the best examples of Norman’s character came when he returned to Arkansas and reached out to Michelle Morgan, the queen who had once beaten him for the state crown. He invited her to serve as choreographer for the pageant, uniting a community that had been divided by pageant politics.

Norman was always proud to have been Miss Gay America, but he was even more humbled to have been Miss Gay Arkansas. That balance of pride and appreciation shaped a legacy that continues to inspire queens all over the world today.

Until next time,

Melanie Masters

Miss Gay Arkansas America 2025

Miss Masters if you're Excellent